This month, John Wiley & Sons published Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream, a 544-page biography of the world’s most famous philosopher of the boudoir. Hef granted author Steven Watts, a professor of history at the University of Missouri, unrestricted access to his archives. Kirkus Reviews calls Mr. Playboy a “nuanced portrait of Hef’s life that also serves as a panorama of hip culture from the 1950s onward.” We call it essential reading, easily the most comprehensive survey of a legendary American figure. We asked Watts what it was like to work on this book.
PLAYBOY: It’s unusual for a historian to have this sort of access to his subject. There are obvious benefits to that, but there must be perils as well.
WATTS: There are two perils. First, you can become so friendly with your subject that you lose your objectivity. Second, your subject has definite, strongly felt views on his life, and it becomes difficult to sort out what you agree with and what strikes you as self-serving.
PLAYBOY: Your first two biography subjects were Walt Disney and Henry Ford. You seem to have a predisposition for Midwestern inventors.
WATTS: You will have to excuse my pride of place as a native Midwesterner, but I have always believed figures from this region have played an inordinately important role in shaping modern American history. I include not only Ford, Disney and Hefner but military commanders such as John Pershing and Dwight Eisenhower, political leaders such as Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan and literary figures such as Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway. Something in the water, I guess.
PLAYBOY: What will Hef’s place in American history be?
WATTS: Hef will be remembered as a catalyst for two enormous trends that reshaped postwar America: the revolution in sexual values and the emergence of consumer abundance as an ideal. He helped define the modern pursuit of happiness.
PLAYBOY: What period of Hef’s life do you find the most interesting?
WATTS: The 1950s and 1960s. His career and the magazine in that era open a window on how Americans were questioning and reshaping some deeply held values.
PLAYBOY: What about Hef surprised you most?
WATTS: He has a genuinely romantic nature and a sentimental, optimistic, idealistic take on human beings. The depth of his love for Hollywood movies, which approaches the point of obsession, also surprised me.
PLAYBOY: What is his greatest failing?
WATTS: Hef is determined to see every moment as the best of all possible worlds. Throughout the decades he has regularly insisted, “It’s the best time of my life,” but sometimes, when he was dealing with a disastrous relationship or facing political persecution, things looked terrible to an outside observer. His enthusiasm can trump his perspective.
PLAYBOY: How do your students feel about your research?
WATTS: They bombard me with questions: “What is the Mansion like?” and “Have you met the Girls Next Door?” I’ve heard a few disdainful comments from politically correct types, but the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.
PLAYBOY: You’ve become a fixture at the Mansion. Are you ready for your own reality show?
WATTS: I’ll leave the reality show to Hef and the Girls Next Door. Those lurking camera crews would drive me nuts—and they wouldn’t find much of interest.
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Comments on this entry:
Hef knows what the heck he's talking about !! Why's the guy in love with those old movies ?
Because they had a positive message in all of them and they came out at a time when America was in transition. Good acting and of course, the film technology is what made those movies what they are. Classics.... Using black and white film makes the viewer focus more in on the subjects and their messages. Hence, colorful imagery is actually more of a distraction.
Plus, go watch a Harold Lloyd movie, look at all that history in the background, the street cars, the homes (wonder if Hef's ever been to Cairo, IL).
If he's ever done any kind of traveling in the 1950's no doubt, he's crossed the narrow bridge into Kentucky on highway 51.
But, Cairo still has that old look to it. Which no doubt, Hef misses. He's reliving his youth by watching those movies.
Wonder where he was stationed at in the Army ? From Boot Camp to the other multiple destinations.
I know a fellow by the name of Parker Lamb, shot alot of black & white trains of the South and made some road trips to Chicago. No doubt, I'll bet Hef would love to look at his photo collection of what he has. For all ya know, he probably photographed Hef's hometown.
He lives in Austin, Teas and is ironically doing a book on the female hostess who were all college educated ladies, which were there to provide for the passengers.
One lady who lives in my hometown is in her 70-80's told me and Mr. Lamb how Mr. Tigrett (CEO of the GM&O). How it was really important for the ladies to know how the St. Louis Cardinals were doing and to keep him informed on how they were doing as he traveled about. Plus, this would serve a great means of communicating with the customers who were in fact the St. Louis Cardinals.
She goes on to tell a story about how one of her friends had a bad date night and well in short order she found out there were two Cardinals on board her train - Stan Musial and Red Scholler(??) something like that, well know guys... Who gave her a card which allow her to eat at one of their restaurants which they owned in St. Louis.
Hef's, misses his home. So he watches the classics to rekindle his spirits... Not a bad idea considering we all do it too.
Which is what pictures and movies all about.